Broccoli Mushroom Stir Fry

The last post was done in haste, and today also I wanted to post something real quick, but then decided against it when I came across these pictures.

And an idea hit me.

You see, the dish that got made with the above ingredients has a history. It got done so quickly over a chat conversation! Yes, and if you have already seen Nags' awesome pictures and post of Stir Fried Broccoli with Mushrooms and Bean Sprouts, you can guess that the person who guided me over chat was Nags.

So, the idea was - why not share the conversation in a post with these pictures and show you how easy it is to cook over chat! But some background before the actual chat first.

I had picked up mushrooms and broccoli and got home around 12:00 p.m. one day and wanted to make something with both since my daughter likes them. I quickly chopped them, logged in and searched for Nags' recipe, and realized I didn't have a few of the ingredients. I was also unsure how to judge whether the mushrooms were cooked once I got started, so I checked if she was online.

I sure was lucky that day, because here's the conversation we had:

(The ingredients I didn't have/ use are italicized)

12:25 PM me: hi Naga

Nags: hey

me: QQ - how do you know when mushrooms are cooked

button mushrooms

Nags: they dont need much time

what dish are u making

12:26 PM me: I'm inspired by your broccoli mushroom dish

Nags: :)

me: though I'm not using soya and corn flour

my daughter likes both broccoli and mushrooms, so i thought of combining both and making a dish to suit herr tastebuds (no soya:-() just onions

12:27 PM no bell pepper too

Nags: oh hmm, yeah onions should be enough actually

me: k

Nags: i make something with just broccoli and onions

me: is it ok to add tomatoes?

Nags: but a little bit of soya sauce really helps

yeah why not

12:28 PM maybe u can puree and add so that it has a base

me: k, that shud give her the flavour she likes

ok cool

Nags: the mushroom gets soft very quijcly and becomes a deeper colour

me: k, i used garlic too

12:29 PM added a little salt and pepper, that shud be enuf?

Nags: more than :)

me: i'm doing it as i chat wiht u ok

Nags: simple yet flavourful

:)

me: cool, so i'll wait for colour to change and turn off?

Nags: yes, test one piece if u are unsure

me: coz i just made mushrooms once before

Nags: wont take too long

me: long back

k cool

Nags: even broccoli cooks super quick

me: softness indicates cooked?

yeah

Nags: yes

12:30 PM me: cool, think its done..thanks!:D

Nags: shudnt be rubbery

me: great! :D

Nags: enjoy!

me: wow my dish is done over chat

Nags: hahah this is awesome

me: yeah, thank God you were available, i just logged in to check ..

12:31 PM Nags: :)

me: after cutting all stuff and keeping the pan on the stove

take care have a great day ahead

Nags: u too

me: catch u later

Nags: bye for now

me: have to go pick her now:D

From the time stamp in the above chat conversation, you can deduce that my dish was done in 5 minutes!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

Mushrooms - I used button mushrooms - about 1 1/2 cups after halving each

Broccoli - 1 big head cut cut into floret

Onions - 2 medium sized - finely chopped

Garlic - 2 - 3 cloves - peeled and pounded

Tomatoes - 2 - finely chopped

Salt - to taste

Pepper - to taste

Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

• Heat oil and saute the onions and garlic

• Add the tomatoes, mushrooms and broccoli and stir fry until the mushrooms and broccoli are cooked

• Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well

Serve with Rice/ Chapathi

In case anyone is wondering: I actually keep chopped tomatoes ready in the refrigerator each day, so I could quickly grab the box and add them to this dish. This makes it so much easier to cook pasta or tomato chutney or any dish requiring tomato as a base. I also have chopped onions, peeled ginger and garlic ready for use everyday. And yes, I was chatting from the kitchen.

Spinach/ Palak Rice

I am unable to resist another entry to Monthly Mingle #33 - Ravishing Rice Recipes event at Edible Garden. We love Palak/ Spinach at home, and it features at least twice a week on the menu. In case I am too lazy to make Palak Paratha or Aloo Palak or Dal Palak or plain Palak subji, I make Palak Rice. The main advantage is I need not make any side dish separately to go with this; curd or papad or pickle or coconut chutney will go really well with it. What's more, if you have leftover rice, this is more easy to prepare.


To make the Palak Rice seen in the picture, you will need:

Rice - cooked - 2 cups 

Spinach/ Palak - chopped -4 cups

Onion - chopped - 1

Ginger - peeled and pounded - 1 tsp

Garlic - peeled and pounded - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Red Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Coriander seeds powder - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Pepper - 1/4 tsp

Water - 1/2 cup (only if required)

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

• Keep cooked rice ready
  
• Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions, ginger and garlic
  
• Once the onions are cooked and light brown, add all powders except garam masala and pepper and stir well
  
• Add the chopped palak and mix well and leave to cook covered and on low flame for 3-5 minutes
  
• Palak will have given out water and at this stage, add the cooked rice, garam masala and pepper and mix well
  
• Keep on flame for another 3 minutes and turn off heat
  

Note: If you wish to add water to make the rice softer like I do, add water while adding the rice, and wait for the water to dry

Serve as is or with any of the options mentioned above

This is my second entry to Monthly Mingle #33 - Ravishing Rice Recipes event. Monthly Mingle is an event started by Meeta

Mung Bean Sprouts and Potato Masala

The other day, I was busy clearing up stuff in the kitchen and dicovered a whole jar (about 500 gms) of mung beans. I was not sure how long the beans had been lying there, waiting to be used, but I knew I had to finish them before buying fresh stock. I just washed the whole quantity and decided to sprout half, while the remaining half was used in preparing the cherupayar curry. It was served with puttu for breakfast, and with chapathi(R and A)/ wheat bread (me) for dinner.

However, I still had the sprouts to finish and was thinking of making a simple salad, when I remembered a masala subji Amma used to make with mung bean sprouts.


This used to be one of my favorites with chapathi/ bread. The recipe is very simple too.



To make the Mung Bean Sprouts and Potato Masala seen in the picture, you will need:

Mung bean sprouts - 2 cups
Potatoes - 2 large - peeled and cubed
Tomatoes - 3 large - finely chopped
Onion - 2 medium sized - finely chopped
Green chilly - 1 sliced
Ginger - peeled and pounded - 1 tbsp
Garlic - peeled and pounded - 2-3 cloves

Water- 1/2 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds powder - 1 tsp
Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala powder - 1/4 tsp

Coriander leaves - chopped - to garnish

Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste



Method:

• Heat oil in a pan, and add onions, ginger, garlic, green chilly and stir well
• After the onions are done, add the tomatoes and cook covered on low flame for 3-5 minutes
• Throw in all the powders except garam masala, add the potatoes and sprouts along with half a cup of water, mix well
• Cook covered on low flame until the potatoes are done, add the garam masala, mix well, and cook uncovered until the subji is dry
• Garnish with coriander leaves

Serve with chapathi/ bread

Though I did not use the whole quantity of sprouts for the dish, I was happy I did not have to make a salad with all of it! Maybe what remains will end up being used in a salad.

Idlis with a simple green chutney

While I have been unable to spend time in visiting all the blogs on my reader list as well as posting recipes, I have diligently been clicking pictures of my dishes in the hope that I will be able to get back to regular blogging sooner than later. This post, being framed in the midst of sudden plans for another vacation to Coorg, features a breakfast menu after a long time.

Idli is our favorite breakfast dish, and we usually prefer it with sambar or tomato chutney, or plain coconut chutney. Many times though, we also enjoy the lovely light green coriander and curd chutney along with idlis.

Idli

To make Idlis as seen in the picture, you will need:
Rice - raw - 2 cups
Urad Dal (Black lentil, de-husked) - 1 cup
Chana Dal - a fistful (optional, Amma does this, to make it more healthier)
Moong Dal - a fistful (optional, same as above)
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Soak the rice and the 3 different dals in 4-5 cups of water for about 5-6 hours
• Grind into a fine paste, and leave the batter to ferment overnight and rise
• Grease the idli pans with oil/ ghee and steam cook for 10-20 minutes depending on the size of the idlis

Note: You may also add about 2 fistfuls of rice flakes (atukul/poha/aval) while grinding the batter, in order to make the idlis more fluffy. My sister-in-law told me about this, and though I do normally add rice flakes, these Idlis (seen in the picture) are made from batter to which rice flakes were not added.

The simple white Idlis go to FIC - WHITE hosted by Kitchen Flavours this month.

Food in colors is a unique event started by Sunshinemom of TongueTicklers.

Coriander and Curd Chutney

To make the coriander and curd chutney seen in the picture, you will need:

Coriander leaves - chopped - 2 cups
Curd - fresh, not sour - 1/2 cup
Ginger - peeled and pounded - 2 tbsp
Green chilly - 1 large
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp (optional, I did not add)
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Grind all the ingredients to a fine paste
• Allow to simmer in a pan over low heat, while stirring continuously, for 2-3 minutes

Note: You may temper the chutney with mustard seeds, curry leaves, and asafeotida (hing), in 2 tsps of oil. I did not do this, as I made this in the morning rush, and wanted to save time. Also, more importantly, A hates mustard seeds in her curries:-( and starts picking them out!

Serve with hot idlis

Coriander Chutney Sandwiches

The pictures in this post have been languishing in my drafts section for quite a while now, and I remember thinking of sending them to a herb event, but somehow missed out on a post.

While the first picture (above) shows pav used to make a veg burger of sorts, I mainly made coriander chutney sandwhiches with brown bread and some vegetables thrown in. To make the coriander chutney (as seen in the picture below) for the sandwich, you will need:


Coriander leaves - chopped - 3 cups
Coconut - grated - 1.5 cups
Ginger - chopped - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2-3 large
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Grind all the ingredients in a mixer to a coarse paste (Do not add water)

For the sandwiches, you will need:

Bread of your choice (I used wheat bread)
Tomatoes - sliced round - about 2-3 large
Onions - sliced round - about 2 large
Cucumber - sliced round - about 1 large (I did not have at the time, so did not add this)
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp (optional)
Pepper - to season per taste

Method:

• Toast the bread slightly if you wish, especially if you are not going to use a sandwich toaster like me
  

• Spread the coriander chutney (generously) on one side of one slice of toasted bread as seen in the pictures below

• Arrange vegetable slices of your choice and taste

• Sprinkle lemon juice and pepper on the vegetables before making the sandwich with another slice of bread on top

Note: If using a toaster, do the same with the bread and vegetables and keep in the toaster

I had some fresh pav at home, decided to try the method on them as well, and they ended up looking like mini burgers minus the vegetable patty with chutney and vegetable slices.


A couple of pictures more:

I did not toast the pav in butter, but you may do so to make them tastier:-)


We thoroughly enjoyed these sandwiches which we had for an early dinner, but I guess they can be served as snacks for tea or as a party snack too.

Cucumber Coriander Soup

Coriander is a herb that my mother always stocks in her refrigerator, and uses quite a lot in her dishes including sambar, rasam, chutneys, snacks like pakoras, sandwiches, parathas, drinks like spiced buttermilk, etc. While garnishing soups, she generally limits the use of this herb to a lesser quantity, and I preferred it that way too.

However, this weekend, I wanted to finish two things that had been lying inside the fridge for about a week - 2 cucumbers, and a large bowl of washed and dried coriander leaves. I thought of a simple salad, but no, my little one would not eat it, and raw at that. So I decided to make a soup out of the cucumber. While thinking of boil ing it and using vegetable stock, my eyes fell on a bowl of freshly set curd, and I decided to use buttermilk in the soup.

To make the Cucumber Coriander Soup seen in the picture, you will need:

Cucumber - 2 medium sized
Coriander - a large bowl - chopped
Curd - Fresh and not sour - 2 cups
Green chilly - 1
Water - 1 cup
Turmeric - a pinch (optional)
Jeera/ Cumin Seeds powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - to taste
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Peel the cucumbers, peel them (if too many seeds, de-seed), grate them into a bowl like you would grate carrots, and boil with a cup of water until well cooked and semi-dry
• In a mixer add 1/2 a cup of water to the 2 cups of fresh curd, blend well for 5 minutes and keep aside until cream settles on top
• Remove the cream from the buttermilk, and add salt, green chilly, turmeric, jeera powders and chopped coriander leaves and blend well
• Add this to the boiled grated cucumber, and keep on low flame for 3-5 minutes stirring continuously, adding enough water only to adjust consistency if required

Note: If you do not add turmeric, the soup will not have the light yellow colour, and will be more natural with the green coriander and white cucumber buttermilk combo with just a tinge of brown jeera. Also, I did not remove the cream, which is why my soup is slightly thicker and creamier (you can see on the sides and glistening on top in the picture)

Serve with crushed pepper in soup bowls

'Herb Mania' is an event started by Dee of Ammalu's kitchen, and is being hosted this month by Siri at Siri's Corner.




The Cucumber Coriander Soup is my entry to the Herb Mania: Coriander/ Cilantro event.

Palak Paratha

I love leafy vegetables, and try to include them in my diet as much as possible. Palak (Spinach) is such a rich source of iron, and instead of making Dal Palak or Spinach Thoran, I try to make parathas occasionally. This time, I was in a hurry, and decided to try and make them as quickly as possible.

This is what I used to make the Palak Paratha:

Palak - finely chopped - 4 cups
Wheat flour/ Atta - 2 cups
Ginger - peeled and pounded - 2 tsp
Jeera/ Cumin powder - 1 tbsp
Red Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp (for palak); per taste (for roti)
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat oil in a kadai, and add the jeera powder, red chilly powder, ginger, palak and salt, and stir well for 2 minutes
• Leave to cook and when the colour of the palak changes and water from the vegetable evapourates, leave to cool
• Take a mixing bowl and knead the flour with the palak and keep aside (Do not add water, you can add more salt per taste)
• Heat the griddle, sprinkle oil and spread with the flat ladle
• Make small balls with the dough and start rolling them with a rolling pin, using oil if you wish to
• Cook both sides of the flattened rolls using oil per requirement, and store in a hot pot

I am a little sceptical about using oil, so I did not use oil while kneading, and while rolling them flat. They were still soft and tasty. The parathas definitely taste better with more oil, I can't deny that!

My six parathas were ready in about 30 minutes from start to finish!

Serve with pickle/ chutney/ youghurt/ raita

Dal Palak curry

Yes, two leaf curries in the same day! It was a leafy affair this sunday, because I happened to buy both Methi and Palak on Saturday. I did not want to waste them away in the refrigerator until I got to them over the week, so I decided to make Aloo Methi and Dal Palak (and yes, my blog posts are belated entries!). I had the Aloo Methi and Dal Palak with the rotis, while my daughter loved the Dal Palak with rice, and picked out the potatoes from the Aloo Methi served on her plate.

You will need:

Palak (Spinach) - 3-4 cups

Dal (lentils) - 1 cup

Onions - chopped - 1 (optional)

Ginger - peeled and pounded - 2 tsp

Garlic - peeled and pounded - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Red chilly powder - 1 tsp

Jeera powder - 2 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

• Pressure cook the lentils along with the onions, ginger and garlic, and mash the mixture
• Heat oil in pan, add the turmeric, red chilly, jeera powders
• Immediately toss the palak in the pan with salt, mix well, and cook covered for 5 minutes
• Remove the lid, add mashed lentils and mix with the palak

Serve hot with chapathis/rice

Aloo Methi

While making rotis or chapathis for dinner, I am always inclined to choose dal (lentils) or some gourd vegetable (dhoodhi/bootle gourd, ribbed gourd etc) to go with it. I would also have made dal methi, but I so wanted to make Aloo Methi and this is the way the picture turned out:

To make Aloo Methi (Potato-Fenugreek Leaves), you need:

Potatoes - boiled, peeled, and sliced into 4 each - 3
Methi leaves - chopped - 4-5 cups
Onions - chopped - 1 cup
Green chilly - sliced - 1
Ginger - peeled and pounded - 2tbsp
Garlic - peeled and pounded - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Jeera (Cumin seeds) powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Oil - 3 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat oil in a kadai, temper mustard seeds, and add the onions
• After the onions turn light brown, ad the ginger, garlic, green chilly, turmeric, red chilly, jeera, and coriander powder
• Mix the chopped methi leaves well along with salt, and cook covered on low flame for 5 min
• Remove lid, and add the sliced potato pieces
• Mix well, and let the water from the methi leaves dry up
• Add the garam masala and stir well

Serve with hot rotis/chapathis

Muringa Ila Thoran (Drumstick Leaf Subji)

Leafy vegetables are a source of iron for the body, and though cabbage leaves, spinach leaves, and lettuce leaves can be eaten raw, drumstick leaves taste better when cooked. You can add aloo (potato) or drumstick pieces too to the dish. However, my mother usually makes this just a leafy affair. I personally do not like this dish, but it is highly nutritious and a source of vitamin C, iron, and protein.

Things you need:

Drumstick leaves - washed, dried, and removed from the stem - 4 cups

Rice - 2 tbsp

Urad Dal (White lentils) - 2 tsp

Red chillies - 2

Garlic - 3 cloves

Chopped onion - 2

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

Jeera or Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat oil in pan, and add leaves, garlic, salt, and turmeric,red chilly, and jeera powder
• Leave pan covered and cook on low flame, stirring in between
• Heat oil in pan, add urad dal and rice until light brown
• Add red chillies and once it splutters, season the dish

Serve with rice or chapathi